Tag: Ensenada Baja California

The second day of our Baja Mexico Road Trip we faced the toughest drive of the trip. Ensenada to San Ignacio, a grueling 800km trek across the desert from Baja Norte to Baja Sur. We set out around 8am and drove for a few hours before stopping at a roadside restaurant for delicious huevos rancheros and coffee. The simple, delicious food-homemade tortillas, numerous condiments, and spicy salsa-is one of our favorite parts of México!

After breakfast, the sun got stronger and the road rougher as we would our way through one of the craziest cactus-filled deserts we’ve ever seen. Thank God we got our A/C fixed! Luckily we had been advised to have a full gas tank and plenty of water as there were no services for hours and hours. Nothing but a 2-lane, potholed highway winding its way through more and more “curvas peligrosas” (dangerous curves). Getting stuck behind semis a couple of times was annoying because the road was hardly ever straight enough to pass without risking a head-on collision.

After nearly 12 hours of driving, just before the sun set, we finally made it to San Ignacio. Out of nowhere, a tiny lake and a palm-covered oasis town in the midst of all the dryness! We found a wonderful $10 campground right on the laguna (Camping Los Petales) with basic showers, bathrooms, and kayaks for rent. Walked into the tranquil town for some tacos and slept peacefully in our tent, despite the croaking bullfrogs.

Camping San Ignacio

San Ignacio was tiny but pleasant and full of friendly people! Highlights were the gorgeous old Domincan church and buying a cheap bag of delicious dates (they grow on the palms all over town). Sad we couldn’t stay longer, we headed off to La Paz!

Before this trip we had only been to one town in Baja California. Slimy and shady, Tijuana is a close stop for some cheap food and drinks but not very exciting unless you’re into drugs and hookers. Ensenada was surprisingly different. We crossed into Mexico at Tecaté where we didn’t even need to wait in line, nor talk to anyone about coming into the country. We drove through the Valle de Guadalupe, beautiful Baja wine country. The only wine region in Mexico, the vino there was AMAZING. We first stopped at Vinos Lechuza, whose owner, Ray Magnusen, Zach had met through work in San Diego. After we had a whole tasting of Lechuza’s magnificent wines (some of the best in Baja wine country), Ray gave us a whole second round straight out of his aging barrels, showed us around the area a little bit, and took us to Michelin-starred chef Drew Deckman’s new popup restaurant right across the road. Deckman’s setup was incredible and totally changed our views on what gourmet dining can look like!

Picnic-chic restaurant with a view! Wish we could have stayed for dinner!

The Valle de Guadalupe had really taken off in the last few years with more and more places opening every season.

That evening we made our way to Ensenada town, only a 15-20min drive from the Ruta del Vino. The city has everything you need but isn’t super big and obnoxious. We ate some awesome tacos and tasted more vino. It was a nice spot to walk around and, to say again, awesomely different from Tijuana. We stayed at the Ensenada Inn, which was nice and quiet and had a good place to park our car.

We only spent one night, but since its so close to our home in San Diego, we hope to make it down to Ensenada again for a weekend in the near future. Click here to check out day 2 of our Baja road trip adventure!